Can post-colonial India's political experience be characterized as moving towards becoming more democratic

Democracy, the form of government where supreme power is directly or indirectly vested in people, has become a global discourse that can be gauged from the fact that many post-colonial countries have adopted it with remarkable success. The dramatic global expansion of democracy in the last few decades in post-colonial countries speak volume of this most popular form of representative government. The ever fluctuating political dynamics coupled with changing socio-economic patterns since Independence has given new meanings to Indian democracy at each stage of its progression. India inherited a colonial state and kept much of its functioning architecture intact. Much of state practice, despite its massive quantitative expansion, is heavily governed by legislation passed somewhere between 1860 and 1947. During the 65-years of long journey, India as a nation has witnessed moments wherein democracy looked to find its true meaning, while moments like national emergency during Indira Gandhi’s regime qualify as the abysmal low that India touched as democratic nation. Adoption of socialist pattern, the middle path between capitalism and communism, at the early stage of our independence and a series of economic reforms that began in 1980s were primarily targeted at delivering the true essence of democracy in social, economic, and political spheres. This paper is an attempt to answer how Abraham Lincoln’s notion of democracy as a government of the people, by the people and for the people has been put to test in India on different social, political, and economic parameters at different stages of its progression since independence and whether ever changing political, social and economic dynamics have brought India closer to true democratic model. India retained a deep commitment to principles of parliamentary government during the three decades after independence. Indian leaders described their approach planning under a democratic pattern of socialism as a new model for Asian and African development. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who set the direction of India’s development during the first fifteen years of freedom, pointed to his country as an area of agreement between opposing ideologies of capitalism on the hand and the communism on the other. Under his leadership, the commitment to democratic social transformation was an integral part of India’s development strategy. Nehru also tried to incorporate Gandhian ideals of social reforms in his development programs. Nehru spoke of this mode of development as a third way which takes best from all existing systems—the Russian, the American, and sought to create something suited to one’s own history and philosophy. In the nascent stage of Independence, the Nehruvian socialist model of development seemed to have worked well within the social and economic framework of India. But Nehru too had to face many challenges in the implementation of his development model. Nehru’s attempt to bring serious bourgeois land reforms was thwarted through a combination of feudal resistance, judicial conservatism, and connivance of state Congress leaderships. Although Congress was content to accept the continuance of semi-feudal rural power, it adopted massive plans for capitalist movement. Consistent with this general objective, the ruling elite adopted a plan for heavy industrialization and institutional control of capital goods industries through the state sector, a largely untried experiment at the time in the underdeveloped countries. Indira Gandhi who became Prime Minister after Nehru’s demise gave a new populist dimension to Indian politics. The shift of the Congress to populist politics quickly set up...

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...India is the largest functioning democracy in the
world. It got freedom during the most sensitive
period of world history. Two global wars were
fought to make the world safe for democracy. In
fact, the second global war accelerated the
process of freedom from bondage. Though the
armed clash was over yet tension was mounting
up due to new ideological rivalry between East
and West led by the then Soviet Union and the
United States of America. The newly...

...﻿Despite being world’s largest democracy, Indiandemocracy is dwindling in the direction of instability and a 'crisis of governability'. The erosion in political order, gradual decline in value system and a widening social and economic gap have brought the Indian Political System to a crossroads where our people contribution is required to drive Indiandemocracy on right track to build an...

...‘Is IndianDemocracy Alive and Kicking?’
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.”
This was the idea of Abraham Lincoln’s about democracy. Though very true in its basic form, does this idea hold true In the Indian context? After completing 62 years of being a ‘sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic’ and currently being in the 65th year of its independence, we can definitely call India a successful...

...Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America, aptly defined democracy as a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America, aptly defined democracy as a government of the people, by the people and for the people. This definition clearly underlines the basic tenet that, in this- form of government, people are supreme. The ultimate power is in their hands and...

...India, standing tall on the four pillars of democracy namely Legislature, Judiciary, Executive, Media and considered the largest democracy in the world is a nation of varied religions, cultures etc., a nation where every second person is said to have a different opinion about every second thing. Here, if people really want to offer anything for free that would be their opinions, views, ideas or even solutions. Yes, we are best at exercising our right to freedom of...

...influence of Persia. It reached its zenith with the symbol of Mughal romance-the Taj Mahal. Its architectural perfection gave it a place as one of the Seven Wonders of the World Today; Taj Mahal has become synonymous with ‘India’.
Be it be Ancient Indian beauty in the form of caves of Ajanta-Ellora, Sun Temple at Konark, Khajuraho Temples or the Dravadian style stone-carved temples of Hoysalewara and Ranganathaswamy or the Medieval glory of Qutab Minar, Red Fort, Fatehpur Sikri...

...tyrannical rule, some make an attempt to set up a government in which the people ruled themselves. This form of government is called a democracy, or “rule of the people.” History has also revealed through the Greeks and the French Revolution, that a democracy that gives complete power to the people, “absolute democracy”, is nothing more than a short prelude to tyranny.
Democracy is a unique type of government, and the purpose of this...

...Independence.
The last decade of the Twentieth Century has unmasked the hypocrisy of the Indian politician. A popular Chief Minister had to spend months in jail. A former Prime Minister had to appear before the court a number of times in connection with bribing of M.Ps. Another former Minister was remanded to judicial custody while facing charges of aiding and abetting smugglers. It seems as if Indiandemocracy has become a breeding ground for...